Towel holder



Oct. 10, 1967 L. s. HOFFMAN ETAL 3,346,208

TOWEL HOLDER Filed Sept. 20, 1965 INVENTORS Louis S. HOFFMAN BY L. J. M/wmn' W Z ATTOGIYIEYS United States Patent 3,346,208 TOWEL HOLDER Louis Simon Hoffman, Morris Township, Morris County,

and Lewis James Marlatt, Pompton Plains, N.J., assignors to Dillon-Beck Manufacturing Company, Hillside, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Sept. 20, 1965, Ser. No. 488,414 2 Claims. (Cl. 24255.2)

This invention relates to a holder for flexible material wound upon a core and more in particular to a holder for a roll of paper towels and the like.

It is commonplace to furnish flexible material wound in a roll-form upon a core since this provides a compact package for a great length of the material and at the same time facilitates the handling of the material when it is packaged and sebsequently when it is dispensed. An example of such flexible material is that of paper towels which are normally wound upon a hollow cylindrical core of cardboard with the length of the towel perforated at predetermined intervals in order to define individual sheets of towel material. A holder for supporting a towel roll must be capable of pivotally supporting the core of the roll and of maintaining it in a predetermined dispensing position such as one in which the core extends in a horizontal drection. In addition to pivotally supporting the roll, it is necessary that the holder provide some restraint to the core in the direction of rotation in order to enable the user to tear the towel material along a perforation and to prevent an excessive unrolling of the towel material whenever the roll is moved during the removing of a towel.

The problem of properly supporting a towel roll is made more diflicult due to the fact that the length of the roll and core can vary over an appreciable amount during manufacture. In one of the most common types of holders heretofore used, the roll is supported at each end by members having short projections which extend partially into the interior of the core. The members are normally spring-biased toward the towel roll so that the projections are held in engagement with the core. Obviously variations in the length of the towel roll can result in the roll being loose or excessively tight with respect to the members having the projections. Excessive tightness prevents the roll from rotating with respect to the projections and prevents the convenient tearing of the towels from the roll. On the other hand, in the case of a short roll and the accompanying loosening on the roll with respect to the projections, force suflicient to tear the perforation of the towel material can also overcome the bias applied to the projections and result in the roll being pulled from the holder. Such holders also suffer from the drawback that the restraint of the roll varies between a full roll and a nearly exhausted one, since the towel material normally interferes with the members having the projections.

It is therefore one of the objects of the invention to provide a holder for flexible material wound upon a core which is not affected by variations in the length of the core.

It is another object of the invention to provide a holder for flexible material wound upon a core which is capable of providing a predetermined degree of braking to the core during relative motion of the core with respect to the holder.

It is an additional object of the invention to provide a holder for flexible material wound upon a core which can be conveniently fabricated such as by a plastic molding operation.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a holder for material wound upon a core which includes provisions for both braking and retaining the core engaged with respect to the holder.

In one embodiment of the invention the holder for flexible material wound upon a core and having an opening extending along its length includes a stationary spindle adapted to rotatively support a core for relative motion therewith when the spindle is inserted into the opening of the core. The spindle is curved along its length so that its outer surface engages the inner surface of the core at a plurality of positions disposed along its length. In this way the engagement of the curved spindle with the inner surface of the core enables it to control the relative motion therebetween.

In another embodiment of the invention the curved spindle is attached at one end thereof to a mounting bracket having a base member and an arm member to which the spindle is attached.

In an additional embodiment of the invention the curved spindle has a cylindrical transverse cross-section.

In a further embodiment of the invention the transverse cross-section of the curved spindle is in the form of an inverted U-shape.

In still a further embodiment of the invention the curved spindle is provided with means for retaining the core thereon which includes a resilient supporting finger extending along the length of the spindle and a lug attached to the finger and extending outwardly beyond he outer surface of the spindle.

Various other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following detailed description, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the spindle and the mounting bracket of the holder of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an end elevation view showing the spindle and a towel roll supported thereon;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section view through the spindle showing the partially cylindrical section thereof;

FIG. 4 is a horizontal section view showing a towel roll with its core supported by the spindle of the holder; and

FIG. 5 is a vertical section view showing the core of the towel roll engaged about the curved form of the spindle.

As shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings, holder 10 for flexible material wound upon a core includes stationary spindle 11 extending from arm member or arm 12 of the means for mounting the spindle, namely mounting bracket 13. Arm 12 is connected to base member or base 14 of the mounting bracket. Base 14 can be provided with pressure sensitive material on the surface opposite to front surface 14a thereof in order to secure the bracket to a wall, a door, a window facing, or any other convenient area. In the alternative, base 14 can be secured in place by conventional fasteners such as nails or screws.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cross-section of spindle 11 is substantially a hollow cylindrical one. More specifically, the cross-section corresponds to a major portion of a circular cylinder so that the cross-section appears to be that of an inverted U-shape. Outer surface 11a of the spindle in any event is maintained at least as a portion of a circle in order that it may conveniently fit within core 15 of flexible material 16 such as paper towels wound thereon. The U-shape of spindle 11 facilitates the fabrication of the spindle when it is to be molded from plastic material. Thus the U-shape is the result of the coring of the interior of the spindle which reduces the amount of plastic material that is needed in fabricating the holder of the invention. Arm 12 and base 14 of mounting bracket 13 can be formed from separate pieces or, in the alternative, the entire holder can be fabricated as an integral unit. Again plastic molding can be used to fabricate the holder as a unit.

'As shown in FIG. 5, spindle 11 is curved along its length. When the spindle is hollow as shown in FIG. 3, the center of curvature is preferably disposed beneath and in a facing relationship with the interior 11b of the spindle having the U-shaped section. As a result of the curved form of the spindle, the spindle engages core 15 of the roll at a plurality of positions disposed along the length of the spindle such as positions 17a-c shown in FIG. 5. The radius of curvature of the curved spindle is selected to provide an interference fit with core 15 so that the spindle provides a braking action which opposes rotation of the core of the roll with respect to the spindle. The radius of curvature determines the degree to which the surface of the spindle varies from a straight line and therefore determines the degree of the interference fit of the spindle with respect to the opening of core 15. By way of example, where the length of the towel roll is approximately 11 inches, the radius of curvature of the spindle can be selected to be approximately 200 inches,

With such a radius, the variation of the surface of the spindle from a straight line is approximately .090 inch.

With the curved spindle it can be understood that the interference fit of the spindle with core 15 alone serves to oppose the rotation of the core with respect to the spindle. Consequently, the braking action applied to the core whenever paper towels are being removed does not vary. Furthermore since the relative motion of the core with respect to the spindle is controlled at the inner surface of the core, the length of the towel roll can in no way affect the dispensing action.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, spindle 11 can be pro vided with a resilient finger 13. In the case of a molded that is, to prevent movement of the towel roll beyond the end of the spindle. Where it is desired to remove the empty core of the towel roll from the spindle, it' is merely necessary to depress finger 18 by the application of pres-- sure to serrated surface 19a. Since surface 19a is camshaped, a new roll of towels will slide over the surface during installation of them onto the spindle.

Where spindle 11 has the hollow form' shown in FIG. 3, the free end of the spindle can he covered by end plate 20 as shown in FIG. 1. Again where the spindle or where the entire holder is molded from plastic material, end plate 20 can be formed integrally with the spindle.

Although paper towels and similar rolled material are generally dispensed with the roll rotating about a horizontal axis, the holder of the invention enables the roll toalso be dispensed when the spindle is positioned vertically. In such a case, it is possible to mount the holder upon arm 12 and thereby eliminate the need of base 14. On the other hand, base 14 can be employed in conjunction with arm 12 to mount the holder with respect to a vertical wall surface and to maintain the spindle in a vertical position.

Where a more rigid support of the spindle is desired over'that provided by the cantilever arrangement for the spindle shown in the drawings, the free end of the spindle can be provided with a bracket similar to that ofbracket 13. Of course such a bracket has to be remov-' able. from the spindle in order to enable the supply of the rolled material tobe replenished. In addition, the spindle can be pivotally attached to the bracket in order to enable the spindle to be moved with respect to the bracket 4 r t and to facilitate the installation and removal of the core of the rolled material.

Since the frictional engagement of the spindle with respect to the core of the rolled material takes place at a plurality of positions disposed along its length, it is possible to provide the spindle with a stepped shape, that is by maintaining the outside diameter of the section shown in FIG. 3 only at the positions-where the engagee ment has to take place. Thus the spindle in such a case would have several separate cylindrical portions spaced apart but connected to one another to form the overall curved envelope which provides the engagement of the spindle to the core of the rolled material.

Although the invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the.

present disclosure has been made only by way of example and that changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is: 1. A holder for flexible material wound upon a core having an opening extending along the length thereof comprising a stationary spindle adapted to substantially major fraction of the width of the opening in the core,

said spindle being gradually curved along its length so that its outer surface engages the inner surface of the core at a plurality of positions disposed along its length, a re-- silient supporting finger formed integrally with and ex tending along the length of said spindle adjacent one end thereof, and a lug attached to said finger and extending outwardly beyond the outer surface of said spindle, said lug being adapted to engage and retainthe core axiallywith respect to said spindle, whereby the engegement of said gradually curved spindle with the core controls therelative motion therebetween.

2. A holder for flexible material wound upon a core having an opening extending along the length thereof comprising a stationary spindle adapted to substantially mate with and rotatably support the core for relative motion therewith when said spindle is inserted into the opening of the core, said spindle being substantially in the form of a hollow cylinder and made from resilient material, at least a portion of the transverse cross-sec tion of said spindle having a width which is a major fraction of the width of the opening in the core, said' spindle being gradually curved along its length so that its outer surface engages the inner surface of the core at a plurality of positionsdisposedalong its length,- a portion of the hollow cylindrical form of said spindle adjacent one end thereof being in the form of a cantilever extending toward said one end, and a lug connected to the free end portion of said resilient cantilever and being adapted to extend outwardly from the sur-- face of said spindle to hold said core axially with respect thereto, whereby engagement of said gradually curved spindle with the core controls the relative motion there-- between.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 873,506 12/ 1907 Clark 242-12971 2,632,605 3/1953 Lee 24255.2

LEONARD D. CHRISTIAN, Primary Examiner; 

1. A HOLDER FOR FLEXIBLE MATERIAL WOUND UPON A CORE HAVING AN OPENING EXTENDING ALONG THE LENGTH THEREOF COMPRISING A STATIONARY SPINDLE ADAPTED TO SUBSTANTIALLY MATER WITH AND ROTATABLY SUPPORT THE CORE FOR RELATIVE MOTION THEREWITH WHEN SAID SPINDLE IS INSERTED INTO THE OPENING OF THE CORE, AT LEAST A PORTION OF THE TRANSVERSE CROSS-SECTION OF SAID SPINDLE HAVING A WIDTH WHICH IS A MAJOR FRACTION OF THE WIDTH OF THE OPENING IN THE CORE, SAID SPINDLE BEING GRADUALLY CURVED ALONG ITS LENGTH SO THAT ITS OUTER SURFACE ENGAGES THE INNER SURFACE OF THE CORE AT A PLURALITY OF POSITIONS DISPOSED ALONG ITS LENGTH, A RESILIENT SUPPORTING FINGER FORMED INTEGRALLY WITH AND EXTENDING ALONG THE LENGTH OF SAID SPINDLE ADJACENT ONE END THEREOF, AND A LUG ATTACHED TO SAID FINGER AND EXTENDING OUTWARDLY BEYOND THE OUTER SURFACE OF SAID SPINDLE, SAID LUG BEING ADAPTED TO ENGAGE AND RETAIN THE CORE AXIALLY WITH RESPECT TO SPINDLE, WHEREBY THE ENGAGEMENT OF SAID GRADUALLY CURVED SPINDLE WITH THE CORE CONTROLS THE RELATIVE MOTION THEREBETWEEN. 